1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for ball retrieval and storage and, more particularly, to a retrieving device having foldable handles and resilient movable rollers forming the bottom of the ball storage container to facilitate ball retrieval.
2. History of the Prior Art
In the teachings and practice of the game of tennis, a substantial number of balls are required for repetitive practice of particular strokes. The student of the game of tennis may quickly find it necessary to utilize a ball container for storage of several tennis balls during a practice session. A conventional bucket container for tennis balls is generally set on the playing surface. It is then necessary to bend or stoop to remove a ball from that container for each practice stroke. While it is possible to set the container on a stand or platform to facilitate the removal of balls for repetitive strokes, such stands and supports for the container comprise more equipment to keep up with. Additionally, such equipment provides obstructions on the playing surface. It would be helpful to provide a ball container which would have means for supporting the container at a convenient height for the removal of balls and, at the same time, provide means for carrying the container conveniently from place to place.
Conventional ball storage devices with handles provided on containers are limited to the single function of carrying the container around. It is generally desirable for the container to be adapted for retrieving these balls from the court surface without an undue amount of bending and stooping. While retrieving tennis balls containers are available, they possess certain inherent disadvantages which the present invention overcomes. For example, one such ball retriever and storage unit incorporates a plurality of parallel relatively unyielding fixed bars forming the bottom of the container. The bars are spaced apart slightly less than the width of a used tennis ball whereby the container may be placed down over the balls which become compressed and squeezed past the bars into the container. One disadvantage of this device is that the relatively unyielding bars of the container will only retrieve balls which are easily compressible when being squeezed past the relatively narrow bars. Further, the repeated impact of these bars and the adjacent container frame portions into a tennis court playing surface causes marring and scarring of the surface. Certain tennis courts incorporate relatively delicate surfaces which cannot withstand such impact without damage.
Similar prior art ball retrieving apparatus is also available which includes movable bars at the bottom of the container. Compression of the container bottom against underlying balls causes a gate to open by slight movement of the bars. Such devices are capable of retrieving a multiplicity of compressible balls upon a playing surface. Most prior art ball retrieving units utilize hard surface engaging frame portions which repeatedly abut the playing surface leading to abrasion thereof. This results in damage to the surface of the playing area and to destructive wear of the ball retrieving unit.
It would be an advantage therefore to overcome the aforesaid problems with an improved tennis ball retrieval unit. The apparatus of the present invention provides such improvements by utilizing a container portion incorporating a bottom formed of transversely resilient rods having journaled thereon cylindrical tubular rollers. The present invention, as further set forth below, also incorporates a foldable handle structure used both in ball retrieval and as a support stand for the ball container portion.